The K3 just happens to be be one of the greatest synth secrets known to humanity,why?Because if you are after pure electro sounds from the 80's and the future then this synth is the one.using this synth i have made some of the most grinding electro that sounds like its been made in the 80's but with a future sound to it. Absolute first class synth,I can not understand why these are so underated. If you like the sounds of calvin Harris etc then this is the synth to get. I intend to be another one,probably a rack version.This machine uses samples of waveforms and puts them through a pure analog signal path,the filter is self resonant and squeels really good. Simply for electro basses,stabs,chord stabs,swells and digiatl clunky basses this is the synth. So programmable,honestly the people who designed this synth should be commended and given a million quid to squander on girls,boys trannies whatever flicks there switch. Amazing 80's electro monster.trust when the secrets out about this synth you won't be able to get them for love of money. If you see one snag it because if you make any sort of electronic music this machine will always bring something to the table. Qithout question a 5 out of 5. can you tell I love this synth?I have loads of all the analogue classics but this synth is a very special synthesiser. Buy one you will not be dissapointed. xxxxxxxxxxx

Rating: 0 out of 5
posted Monday-Apr-20-2009 at 18:20

The Forever
from uk
writes:

Cold,sterile and digital and its absolutely wonderful. If you are after warm sounds forget it if you want out of this world cold digital textures then this is the synth for you. The designer of this synth should get a medal purely for putting osc balance connected to keyboard pressure which makes for some great evolving sounds. You do need a reverb unit and a some delay but then again most synth benefit from this. You can make great digital bass sounds from this keyboard but it excells at weird background sounds. These are cheap synths and I don't know why-Blows the d50 away. excellent.

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Saturday-Feb-16-2008 at 03:51

Justin
a hobbyist user
from Canada
writes:

My first synth! and I love it! Despite what other say I find the presets helpful and some are very realistic. The strings presets are something to definatly check out. Very easy to use, and the value knob is one of my favourite things on it! Creates fat and warm sounds aswell as some nice electronic noises and patterns. Right now I have about 5 keys that need contact cleaning which is a real bummer but once i get them cleaned I'll be able to more fully explore the synth. Hmm, the analog filter is really good for the price I payed for the synth ($125 Canadian)and I like the fact that you can control the velocity senstivity for the filter osc. and amp. Hmm.. only thing else I would have wanted on this synth would be an optional keyboard split, that and a better variety of drum sounds. Other than that it's a very under-rated and low-profile synth, and great for beginners!

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Monday-Jan-29-2007 at 14:20

Grady
a hobbyist user
from Atkins, Arkansas
writes:

I bought my K3 used from Ebay for under 200 bucks. This synth is great for the money. I would rate it 4 out of 5. Pretty good midi implementation for this time period. My first professional synth was an Ensoniq ESQ-1. The K3 is nothing like that synth in respect to the sequencer and it had a mod wheel and so many other parameters you could tweak. You could control most any of the envelopes or ocillators with the mod wheel or pitch bend. The K3 can't really do that,but you get really rich analog sound,sweeps and pads. I wish I still had my ESQ-1 to patch with the K3. External effects are one key to better sounds for the K3, as the sounds can be ok but missing something the board can't reproduce, so they can sound kind of dry. Don't get me wrong, this synth I believe is underated. Kind of like the ESQ-1 and DX-7, it uses a sound cartridge that holds 50 sounds. Both the board and cartridge have sound protection switches to prevent accidentally overwriting internal or cart sounds. I was spoiled by the ESQ-1's large info display that gave patch names and everything you needed to know at the touch of a softkey. This is probably the main thing about the K3 that urks me. 3 sets of LED digits to show patch/sound source,parameters for sounds makes it simple but sometimes difficult to program. Although you can compare the new sound you program with the original patch at the touch of a button. If any of you out there have an ESQ-1 setting around, I might be willing to trade with money to boot for my K3 with it's original RC-2 cartridge. I probably would not even think about trading/selling the K3 if I had not owned the ESQ-1 prior to it.Thanks and E-mail me if interested.

Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Monday-Mar-06-2006 at 15:56

Tim
a hobbyist user
from Earth
writes:

I own a K3 and it is a pretty good synth. The only thing it lacks would be a mod-wheel. Well, there are a couple of post regarding rebooting and sysex. 1. Resetting the k3 is done by pressing the first three white keys while turning on the power. This restores the factory settings. 2. Sysex patches can be loaded into your favorite seq. program. In cakewalk it is very easy, click transmit and the k3 has new sounds. 3. Press master>#42'function' set at 6># press #44 'exclusive1 set to 1 >#45 'exclusive2' and set to 1. Now the k3 will transmit and receive sysex messages created by all button presses and value wheel. Great for realtime LFO control etc. Not great for cut-off due to serious stepping but aftertouch will do that better especially when drawn in Cakewalks controller pane.